British Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing caused uproar last night
by predicting the assassination of Barack Obama if he becomes the first
black U.S. president.

The 88-year-old novelist's remarks came as the Democratic candidate
toasted the most successful day in his White House campaign.

Mr Obama, the 46-year-old son of a black Kenyan man and a white American,
dismissed Mrs Lessing's comments.

Miss Lessing said: "He would probably not last long, a black man
in the position of president. They would kill him."

She said it would be better if Mrs Clinton, 60, became America's first
woman president with Obama as her running mate.

"Hillary is a very sharp lady. It might be calmer if she wins,"
she told a Swedish newspaper.

But one Democratic analyst said: "Suggesting Obama is in danger
if he wins the election in November is not only divisive, it is insulting
to the American people."

Princeton University political science professor-Melissa Harris-Lacewell
raised assassination fears last month, saying: "For many black
supporters, there is a lot of anxiety that he will be killed. It is
on people's minds.

"You can't make a prediction like this - like he has a 50 per
cent chance of getting shot.

"But the greater his visibility and the greater his access to
people, there is a danger."